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The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You
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The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You Image
Metascore
84

Universal acclaim - based on 36 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 38 Ratings

  • Summary: The sixth full-length release includes guest appearances from Howe Gelb, Mudhoney's Steve Turner, Visqueen, M. Ward as well as members of Calexico, Los Lobos, My Morning Jacket, the New Pornographers, was produced by Tucker Martine.
  • Record Label: Anti
  • Genre(s): Country, Alt-Country, Americana, Pop/Rock, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative Singer/Songwriter, Alternative Country-Rock
  • More Details and Credits »

Top Track

Local Girl
I pass the light that the young people make How joyfully it's wasted I feel the weight of the needle's repeat and sigh Sang my weight in metric... See the rest of the song lyrics
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 34 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 36
  3. Negative: 0 out of 36
  1. Magnet
    Sep 19, 2013
    95
    Almost every inch of The Worse Things Get is stout and strong-willed. [No. 102, p.52]
    All this publication's reviews
  2. No Ripcord
    Sep 6, 2013
    90
    On this, her latest and most emotionally charged album, she's managed to create a painful outpouring of honesty, one that strikes that coveted balance of both melodic and lyrical expression; her message is equally powerful from each direction.
  3. Chicago Tribune
    Sep 3, 2013
    88
    It’s music, fighting to be wild.
  4. The Line of Best Fit
    Aug 30, 2013
    80
    It’s a tremendous listen and a wonderful demonstration of her talents nonetheless.
  5. The New York Times
    Sep 3, 2013
    80
    The melodies are forthright, the arrangements are hand played, and Ms. Case’s voice is open and robust, with the richness of prime Linda Ronstadt and Patsy Cline.
  6. Paste Magazine
    Sep 3, 2013
    80
    It’s a record that often elevates the listener through its integrity and intensity, and sometimes grates through its failure to find the right music to express its complex lyrical sentiments.
  7. The A.V. Club
    Sep 10, 2013
    50
    An album of songs that seem to be about love and loss but never quite connect emotionally, almost as though Case is so wrapped up in seeming ladylike that she never really remembers to let go.

See all 36 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. PieceofMine
    Sep 5, 2013
    9
    This is easily her most sonically inaccessible album since 2002's Blacklisted, and maybe even more esoteric than that. The experimentation,This is easily her most sonically inaccessible album since 2002's Blacklisted, and maybe even more esoteric than that. The experimentation, however, is a necessary approach to keep the woman from being known only for her voice; she may, more than most singer-songwriters, need to rely on her song writing abilities more and more as she enters a more established, veteran phase of her career.

    The experimentation is also necessitated by the subject matter loss, resilience, complex reconciliation with angry feelings toward the past and comes off as her most novelistic (as well as autobiographical) effort in a catalog of visually robust songs. The voice, now legendary, serves as the listener's constant, a endlessly flexible yet always familiar entity that guides us through the ponderous, suffocating darkness in the middle of the album and toward the brilliant, rolling light in "Ragtime."    … Expand
  2. indiegalaxy10
    Sep 3, 2013
    8
    There's a positive change in her music, but her new sounds atmospheric and the rich textures are amazing. Her return is excellent not theThere's a positive change in her music, but her new sounds atmospheric and the rich textures are amazing. Her return is excellent not the best, but she is still a great artist.… Expand
  4. adhamhany
    Dec 24, 2013
    6
    A good album. Nothing amazing though. I do, however, enjoy the "Ragtime" track. The music is very uplifting. It's a clever move to put thatA good album. Nothing amazing though. I do, however, enjoy the "Ragtime" track. The music is very uplifting. It's a clever move to put that track at the end of the album.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

45
#45 Best Album of 2013

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